Somebody just translated for me a 12 page rental contract
In it, it mentions that rent can be increased every month with appropriate notice.
Is there some overriding safeguard preventing landlord from arbitrarily raising rent anytime and however much they want? Or am I just screwed if they LL wants to get me out or raise rent?
I think possibly the translation was done too literally. Don't worry, I don't believe your landlord will be raising the rent " every month" rather the contract is probably stating that an increase could be implemented " any month" during a year.
Here is a link to a pdf file from the Mieterverband (renters association) which states (in German) under what situations a landlord may raise the rent:
http://www.mieterverband.ch/fileadmi...eh_gruende.pdf
In the contract there should be a clause stating the index that your rent is linked to and that will serve as a basis for rent increases. Arbitrary rent increases are not allowed.
thanks all. there was one bit which referred to 3.5% hypozins and CPI so I'm guessing they can raise it by the (higher?) of CPI movement or by 3.5%? not sure what is typical. glad to finally get a place, but if someone knows what is the norm for this stuff, would be glad to hear. thanks.
Just to put it in persepective; you'll only read in forums and hear among friends, etc about occasions when landlords have acted wrongly or broken a rule. You never hear about all the tenants who are happy and have never had a problem with rent/moving in/moving out/maintenance.
Try to put some trust in your landlord and trust that all is in order. Getting everything checked out is, of course, sensible but don't assume that all landlords are unscrupulous or out to screw their tenants.
Well, either way....mortgage rates are currently way below 3.5%, so you are fairly safe there for a little while. The March CPI figures were -0.3% against the previous month and -0.4% against March 2008, so that's also looking good. Rental increases in Switzerland are not that easy and can be opposed. Once again I can recommend joining the Mieterverband who will be able to assist should you feel that your landlord is out of line.
By the way, is your contract a pre-printed contract? If yes, who issued it? If it was the Hauseigentümerverband or the Mieterverband (less likely), then the terms and conditions will be standard ones and shouldn't give too much cause for concern. It will be anything handwritten that you will need to check carefully.
It was a preprinted form. It had 3 letters at the top, first being H. I was a little surprised by the mortgage interest thing because being a tenant, I was assuming the LL would be bearing the risk of any increase in mortgage rates rather than the tenant.
agree. i read some nightmare stories on here (and also heard from friends in CH) so just wanted to be extra careful. I met the landlord and he seems v nice so hopefully all will go well!
Sounds like you are going about it all the right way - getting yourself informed and prepared.
Good luck!